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Websleuths News

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SC town protests firing of lesbian chief by anti-gay mayor

Crystal Moore became the Latta SC's first female officer and rose to be Chief on the force of 8 full-time officers. Her record was sterling but on April 15, Mayor Earl Bullard issued seven reprimands in one day and fired her.

The town council responded with a unanimous vote of confidence in Moore and blocked the mayor from hiring a new chief for 60 days. Residents rallied outside the town hall to show their support and set up a "Stand With Chief Moore" fund.

Bullard, whose reprimands of the police chief included accusing her of running background checks without proper authorization and questioning the authority of a supervisor, said he could not discuss why he let Moore go, but that it was not because she is a lesbian.

After Moore's firing, a recording surfaced in which the mayor talked about "a questionable lifestyle." After Bullard was elected unopposed in December, Moore said, she heard rumors that he was anti-gay and that she and another lesbian town employee should "watch our backs." Moore and a council member confronted the mayor at a council meeting in February, asking him if he had a problem with Moore's job performance or sexual orientation.

According to a recording of the meeting, the mayor denied that he was a "bigot or prejudicial" and was satisfied with her job performance.
On March 13, Bullard was more candid about his opinions. In a recorded phone call with Counsilman Jarrett Taylor, Bullard said: "I would much rather have — and I will say this to anybody's face — somebody who drank and drank too much taking care of my child than I had somebody whose lifestyle is questionable around children. Because that ain't the damned way it's supposed to be.""I'm not going to let two women stand up there and hold hands and let my child be aware. And I'm not going to see them do it with two men neither. I don't have to look at it, and I don't want my child around it."

"Crystal's sexuality has never even been talked about — nobody cares," said Janette W. Dupree, the town's municipal judge. "We see her as just Crystal. She's loved and respected, and she's very, very good at her job." Jarett Taylor, the town councilman who recorded the mayor's rant against gays, said he was surprised by the vehement response to Moore's firing. "I mean, we're a laid-back little country farm town that doesn't get real upset about anything," Taylor said.

Moore has been heartened by the support. The town's eight full-time police officers want her back, she said, and she's received hundreds of Facebook messages from people around the country. "The town has been awesome," she said. "They've clapped for me and stood behind me, and that spoke for the job I've done."

Moore has wanted to be a police officer since she saw a cop on patrol while she was riding a school bus at age 9. She said she came out as gay in her early 20s, but that did not halt her rise from junior patrol officer to police chief. "Nobody cared about that because they know I did my job, and I did it well," she said. "But now ... my dream is gone.

This is my neck of the woods. There is outrage in Latta over Crystal's firing. Unfortunately the town has a tarnished past when it comes to electins mayors and then regretting their choice. This mayor ran unopposed and only owns land but does not live in the town. Doesn't even live in the county.

I have heard the following: The recording was actually against the former recreation director and only surfaced after Crystal's firing...The mayor was photographed at the local festival with his live-in girlfriend...Crystal has been said to be selective on who goes to jail and who doesn't...There does seem to a moral evaluation by many of how and if sexual preference affects job performance and a person's value to society.

In the end I believe Crystal will get her job back and Latta will learn a valuable lesson in equal rights for all. As my birthplace I certainly hope so.

This is my neck of the woods. There is outrage in Latta over Crystal's firing. Unfortunately the town has a tarnished past when it comes to electins mayors and then regretting their choice. This mayor ran unopposed and only owns land but does not live in the town. Doesn't even live in the county.

I have heard the following: The recording was actually against the former recreation director and only surfaced after Crystal's firing...The mayor was photographed at the local festival with his live-in girlfriend...Crystal has been said to be selective on who goes to jail and who doesn't...There does seem to a moral evaluation by many of how and if sexual preference affects job performance and a person's value to society.

In the end I believe Crystal will get her job back and Latta will learn a valuable lesson in equal rights for all. As my birthplace I certainly hope so.

How does a guy get elected mayor in a town he doesn't even live in? I hope she gets her job back, it looks like the whole town, but one, is behind her.